Monthly Archives: October 2011

The Stupidest Things Ever Said BOOK OF ALL-TIME STUPIDEST TOP 10 LISTS

By Kathryn and Ross Petras

October 24, 2011 - From the celebrated collectors of the best-selling annual 365 Stupidest Things Ever Said calendar (over 4 million sold) comes the fabulously stupid collection they’ve put together due to popular demand: THE STUPIDEST THINGS EVER SAID BOOK OF ALL-TIME STUPIDEST TOP 10 LISTS (Workman; November 2011; $10.95). It’s a stupid title for a very stupid book!

This is the best of the Stupidest — or should we say, the stupidest of the stupidest, the creme de la crud of stupidities — over 1,000 ridiculous quotes in an irresistible top ten list format. It’s celebrities, politicians, and athletes; unthinkable book titles; erroneous road signs and menu translations; bizarre events and questionable scientific stories. It’s lists like:

The Top 10 Stupidest and Most Incredibly Annoying Things Said by Rich People

#1: It’s so bad being homeless in the winter. They should go somewhere warm like the Caribbean where they can eat fresh fish all day. – model/socialite Victoria Hervey

The Top 10 Stupidest and Least Inspirational Coaches and Managers

#5: Just remember the words of Patrick Henry: “Kill me or let me live!” - college football coach Bill Peterson

The Top 10 Stupidest Examples of Celebrities Sharing Their Vast Knowledge

#3: Who is Yom Kippur? Is that the name of the new Japanese designer? - model-turned businesswoman Kathy Ireland

Plus lost in translation moments. Doubles entendres. Political speeches, foreign menus, traffic signs. Celebrities on literature, on world events, on revealing too much about themselves - Making love in the morning got me through morning sickness – I found I could be happy and throw up at the same time (Pamela Anderson). Book titles - Anorexia Nervosa in Bulgarian Bees. Newspaper headlines - Reason for More Bear Sightings: More Bears. And police blotters - Police receive a report of a newborn infant found in a trash can. Upon investigation, officers discover it was only a burrito.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

KATHRYN and ROSS PETRAS, brother and sister, are the specialists in stupidity who have written numerous humor books and whose 365 Stupidest Things Ever Saidcalendar has entertained millions of readers for 18 years. They also publish collections of smartness, most recently Don’t Forget to Sing in the Lifeboats and Dance First, Think Later. Their blog is www.stupidest.com.

ABOUT THE BOOK

THE STUPIDEST THINGS EVER SAID BOOK OF ALL-TIME STUPIDEST TOP 10 LISTS

Rhee Announces StudentsFirst Presence at Cornell, Morehouse, Ohio State and U. of San Diego

ITHACA, N.Y., October 18, 2011 - StudentsFirst has launched a new program to work with college students on reforming America’s public school system. StudentsFirst On Campus will harness the energy of today’s college students to come up with new solutions to the problems facing America’s schools.

For too long, our education system has been failing kids as measured by international and domestic test scores, high school graduation rates and achievement gaps between kids in poverty and their wealthier peers. And, for too long, the current system has been focused on the interests of the grownups in the system rather than those of students.

Given the evident need to reform the current system, StudentsFirst On Campus will help cultivate new ideas and a new generation of leaders to fight for reform.

StudentsFirst CEO and Founder Michelle Rhee rolled out the new program in a visit to her alma mater, Cornell University, Tuesday evening.

“It is an honor to work with students here at Cornell and elsewhere on this critical new program,” Rhee said. “We know the status quo isn’t serving our kids, and we need a new way of thinking about education and a new generation of leadership to bring about that change.”

Campus directors for the new program will work with the student bodies at their schools and with local communities to galvanize support for education reform and contribute ideas to the debate.

Campus directors have already been named at Cornell, Morehouse College, The Ohio State University, and the University of San Diego. StudentsFirst is now accepting applications through its website for additional campus directors.

In a rare joint statement, Raj Kannapan, the President of Cornell Republicans, and Tony Montgomery, President of Cornell Democrats said: “Education is one of the most critical issues facing our country, and youth can play a vital role in the discussion. We, the students of Cornell, are determined to get involved in the search for solutions to the challenges facing American schools today.”

About StudentsFirst

Former D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee launched StudentsFirst in December to bring about reforms that help improve student learning by advocating for policies that place children’s interests ahead of others. The grassroots, bipartisan movement seeks to mobilize parents, teachers, students and others to overhaul outdated policies that aren’t working for kids and are holding them back from receiving the 21st Century education they need and our country depends on them receiving. StudentsFirst is headquartered in Sacramento, California.

SANTA MONICA, Calif., October 17, 2011 – With a girlfriend on the west coast, and enrolled in college on the east coast, Justin Byers wanted to fly west regularly, but was frustrated by the time consuming process to book flights. So he created a solution. Justin, along with three other college friends, recently launched PointHub (www.pointhub.com/), a loyalty program shopping and management destination, with its breakthrough Cash vs. Points® Recommendation Engine that recommends qualified, real-time, side-by-side comparisons between purchase price and rewards points for airlines and hotels. PointHub provides value-conscious students with an easy process to book travel in the most cost-effective way. Safe and easy-to-use, PointHub eliminates the need to visit multiple sites and remember as many passwords when booking rewards travel and empowers students to make better use of their incentive programs, reducing the $16 billion lost annually in unused frequent flyer miles and rewards points.

PointHub goes beyond answering the question, “Can I use my rewards points when making travel plans?” with its patent-pending, proprietary Cash vs. Points® Recommendation Engine. After eliminating blackout periods and cross-referencing factors such as redemption fees, point expiration risk, and travel preferences, PointHub provides side-by-side “best value” travel recommendations that can actually be booked using cash or rewards points. Registered users simply click on the desired option and they are sent directly to the travel provider where they make their reservations without having to enter their personal information again.

“We created PointHub to help people take back the power of their points,” said Justin Byers, PointHub CEO. “When I was in college, my friends and I were so frustrated trying to use our frequent flyer miles, and never fully understood if it was a better value to buy or use points. So, I knew there had to be an easier way and that’s when I came up with the idea for PointHub. Once all the elements came together, including being able to track your points online, we began developing our proprietary Recommendation Engine. Once we’re firmly established in the travel space, we’re going to roll out loyalty shopping options for retailers and credit card programs,” concluded Byers.

PointHub simplifies rewards management for consumers, who average 18 loyalty programs per household, through its PointTracker and alert tools. Eliminating the need to visit multiple sites, PointTracker monitors rewards program balances, elite levels, tier-status progress, pending itineraries, and expiration dates. PointHub warns registered users when their frequent flyer miles, rewards points, flight credits, or airline vouchers are about to expire and provides recommendations on how best to use them.

Beyond shopping and rewards management, PointHub also offers useful features such as a guide to more than 200 loyalty programs with user ratings and reviews, and tips about ways to earn and redeem air miles and rewards points. PointHub uses the same security measures, such as 128-bit encryption and physical security, as used by the largest financial institutions; its site is monitored and verified by Verisign, TRUSTe and McAfee.

About PointHub:
Santa Monica, CA-based PointHub (www.pointhub.com) is a loyalty program shopping and management destination whose patent-pending Cash vs. Points® Recommendation Engine strengthens consumer decision-making through qualified, real-time, side-by-side comparisons between purchase price and rewards points. PointHub is the single best source for powerful point-redemption recommendations, point loss prevention, and rewards program management. Visit www.pointhub.com/press for more details. Follow us on Twitter (@PointHub). Like us on Facebook (facebook.com/pointhub). Read our blog (blog.pointhub.com/).

OAKLAND, Calif., October 10, 2011 - Today Dictionary.com, the leading online and mobile dictionary, announced that they are looking for a few select recruits (college students) to help educate fellow students about their new e-learning product, Word Dynamo. Word Dynamo is an online and mobile learning experience that combines the engagement of gaming with proven study techniques.

Allowing students to take full control of their education with tailored study programs they can access anywhere, anytime, Word Dynamo has features such as: individualized word scores; a personalized home page that allows students to track their learning level and monitor progress; lists and genius kits where students can choose from thousands of word lists or make their own; as well as a Library of Lessons with access to more than 100,000 editorially recommended study guides created by teaching experts.

Dictionary.com is looking for enthusiastic students to help spread the word about Word Dynamo to both fellow students and teachers on campus. The brand ambassadors will support the Dictionary.com marketing and sales teams by assisting with field marketing on campus. In addition to paying each recruit $150 for their time, Dictionary.com is also giving away $7,500 in cash for the highest performing brand ambassadors. Roles and responsibilities will include:

Develop, execute and participate in campus promotions and marquee events on a weekly basis for 6 weeks, from Oct. 17th- Dec. 2nd, 2011

Identify key promotion locations to drive Word Dynamo awareness

Promote to and convert students into registered users of the Word Dynamo product

Complete a variety of tasks in several settings, including tabling and flyering at events or high traffic areas, various campus buildings, student events, or in the classroom, where allowed

Educate fellow students and teachers about Dictionary.com products

Introduce students to the helpful features and benefits of Word Dynamo

Be the brand by wearing a Word Dynamo T-Shirt during promotions–constantly putting Dictionary.com’s products in the hands (and minds) of the right students and teachers

Recap events with photos/videos and gather feedback to be communicated back to Marketing Managers

About Dictionary.com
Dictionary.com is the leading provider of online and mobile language reference products and services. Dictionary.com, LLC, is an IAC (NASDAQ: IACI) company and includes Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com, WordDynamo.com and Translator, and serves an average of 50 million unique users worldwide per month (source: 2011 Quantcast data and internal mobile usage data). For more information, please visit content.dictionary.com.

Ohio State and Sodexo ask football fans to punt trash to the recycling stations

GAITHERSBURG, Md., October 6, 2011 - Sodexo, the world leader in Quality of Daily Life Solutions, is making a play to sack concession waste at Ohio Stadium with its partner The Ohio State University. After three games this season efforts have diverted nearly 60,000 pounds of waste – the equivalent weight of about 300 college football players – away from landfill.

“Sodexo is proud to support Ohio State in finding a solution to reducing waste at one of the biggest stadiums in the country,” said Tom Post, president, Sodexo Education – Campus. “This work demonstrates our strong commitment to sustainability through reducing waste and engaging Ohio State fans for a good cause.”

Zero Waste’s goal is to divert 90 percent of Ohio Stadium’s gameday waste away from landfill. Ohio State and Sodexo diverted 70 percent of waste away from landfills after only three games this season. According to detailed Ohio State evaluation reports, the game against Akron resulted in a 76 percent diversion rate, a total of 17.2 tons collected with 13.9 tons diverted with 4.1 tons going to landfill. The game against Toledo resulted in a 63 percent diversion rate, resulting in 13.2 tons collected with 8.8 tons diverted and 4.8 tons going to landfill. The Colorado game resulted in a 72 percent diversion rate with 11.7 collected and 9.4 diverted and 3.6 tons going to the landfill.

“Ohio State has already made major strides already toward reducing waste going to the landfill,” said Corey Hawkey, Ohio State’s sustainability coordinator for energy services and sustainability. “Diverting trash completely – with 105,000 fans in attendance – is a challenge but we’re confident that this program will be successful.”

The Ohio State office of Energy Services and Sustainability and the Ohio State Department of Athletics Facilities office designated two waste streams for this football season – compost and recycling. Stations have been set up near concessions stands to encourage fans to recycle and compost. The message is simple: If it looks like food or paper, then compost it. If it looks like plastic, metal, or glass, then recycle it. Trash stations have been removed from the stadium.

“When in doubt, we ask fans to recycle it, and the contamination will be sorted out at the recycling facility,” said Danny Phillips, Sodexo general manager at Ohio Stadium. “Behavior change by employees and fans is the key to success and we’ll keep working at it until we reach our partner’s goal.”

Sodexo trained more than 600 employees and volunteers over the summer to prepare for the Zero Waste program and the company reinforces the effort with refresher training before each game to send the least amount of waste to landfill.

Fans will not bear the cost of implementing Zero Waste. Ohio State Energy Services and Sustainability received a grant from the President’s and Provost’s Council on Sustainability to help subsidize the Zero Waste implementation and Sodexo has also provided financial assistance by absorbing the cost of providing more compostable and recyclable products in the stadium.

“Ohio State has long had a tradition of excellence, teamwork, and commitment,” Phillips said. “This initiative follows in that same tradition and Sodexo is proud that the teamwork of our employees and volunteers supports our partner in this worthwhile effort.”

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About Sodexo

Sodexo in North America
Sodexo, Inc. (www.sodexoUSA.com), leading Quality of Daily Life Solutions company in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, delivers On Site Service Solutions in Corporate, Education, Health Care, Government, and Remote Site segments, as well as Motivation Solutions such as Esteem Pass. Sodexo, Inc., headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md., funds all administrative costs for the Sodexo Foundation (www.SodexoFoundation.org), an independent charitable organization that, since its founding in 1999, has made more than $13 million in grants to fight hunger in America. Visit the corporate blog at www.sodexoUSA.com/blog.

Sodexo, world leader in Quality of Daily Life Solutions
Quality of Life plays an important role in the progress of individuals and the performance of organizations. Based on this conviction, Sodexo is the strategic partner for companies and institutions that place a premium on performance and well-being, as it has since Pierre Bellon founded the company in 1966. Sharing the same passion for service, Sodexo’s 380,000 employees, in 80 countries design, manage and deliver an unrivaled range of On-site Service Solutions and Motivation Solutions. Sodexo has created a new form of service business that contributes to the economic, social and environmental development of the communities, regions and countries in which it operates and to the fulfillment of its employees.

Food On Demand brings high-tech, restaurant experience to college campuses

GAITHERSBURG, Md., October 6, 2011 - Sodexo, the world leader in Quality of Daily Life Solutions, has been recognized by Nation’s Restaurant News as one of five winners of its 2011 Hot Concepts! Awards for its FöD (Food on Demand), a unique, technology-focused, casual-dining experience for its college campus customers. Sodexo’s FöD concept was selected for displaying bold tactics, outstanding creativity, and strong performance in a persistently sluggish economy.

“FöD enables us to deliver an exceptional experience for college students,” said Tom Post, president, Sodexo Education – Campus. “The abundant selections available combined with cool technology makes this concept a hit on college campuses.”

The program is customizable for each campus and includes whatever food the school chooses to offer. Guests order digitally from a touch-screen kiosk. Each dish is then individually prepared, and the customer is buzzed via smart phone or pager when the meal is ready. FöD is operating at six universities, including the University of Vermont in Burlington, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., Academy of Art in San Francisco, Northwestern University in Chicago, and Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y. Topping the list of favorites are Waffles Diane with blueberries, Asian steak salad, grilled chicken pesto stromboli, and chocolate torte.

“We’re able to customize what we offer to suit students’ tastes,” said Jeff Pente, Sodexo’s senior director of brand management. “Choices might include fast casual, BBQ, upscale, all healthy choices, a pub-style operation – FöD enables us to do it all.”

Sodexo’s team of experts worked on the research and development of this concept for two years, teaming with Starfish and Lettuce Entertain You. Sodexo currently uses FöD in small accounts and as a secondary restaurant option for diners. Sodexo expects the demand for this concept to grow as it meets customer demands for healthy, delicious food that is prepared while you wait and ready in minutes.

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About Sodexo

Sodexo in North America
Sodexo, Inc. (www.sodexoUSA.com), leading Quality of Daily Life Solutions company in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, delivers On Site Service Solutions in Corporate, Education, Health Care, Government, and Remote Site segments, as well as Motivation Solutions such as Esteem Pass. Sodexo, Inc., headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md., funds all administrative costs for the Sodexo Foundation (www.SodexoFoundation.org), an independent charitable organization that, since its founding in 1999, has made more than $13 million in grants to fight hunger in America. Visit the corporate blog at www.sodexoUSA.com/blog.

Sodexo, world leader in Quality of Daily Life Solutions
Quality of Life plays an important role in the progress of individuals and the performance of organizations. Based on this conviction, Sodexo is the strategic partner for companies and institutions that place a premium on performance and well-being, as it has since Pierre Bellon founded the company in 1966. Sharing the same passion for service, Sodexo’s 380,000 employees, in 80 countries design, manage and deliver an unrivaled range of On-site Service Solutions and Motivation Solutions. Sodexo has created a new form of service business that contributes to the economic, social and environmental development of the communities, regions and countries in which it operates and to the fulfillment of its employees.

SACRAMENTO, Calif., October 6, 2011 - The 20 Million Minds Foundation (20MM) announced a new digitally enhanced etextbook for college students based on open content. The non-profit has set its sight on producing open source etextbooks for the top 25 courses taken by undergraduates in the nation, with general statistics being one of largest of such courses. The student savings potential is tremendous.

Starting today, Collaborative Statistics 2nd Edition is available for all professors to adopt, providing students with an interactive experience using videos, applets, graphics, exercises, and a variety of navigation and study features for zero cost. This version is available at kno.com through a web browser, on Windows, and on Apple Mac based systems and iPad tablet.

Collaborative Statistics, 2nd Edition, was written and updated by Barbara Illowsky and Susan Dean, faculty members at De Anza College in Cupertino, California. This textbook is intended for introductory statistics courses taken by students at two- and four-year colleges.

In California community colleges alone, over 120,000 students every year take the general statistics course. With an average new book price of over $150 dollars, students pay anywhere between $10 and $18 million dollars per year for this basic statistics course. With the new enhanced digital offering, students will experience a free PDF for the course or the enhanced version under $20 dollars for the semester.

“One of the criticisms leveled at open textbooks is that the quality somehow suffers because they do not have the “imprimatur” of the commercial publishers. But after today, we will no longer view open source books the same way. Today our collaboration with Kno will showcase future open source books with Web 2.0 capabilities able to outperform commercial publications at every level,” said Florez.

Today marks the first merger between a for-profit giant, Kno, and non-profit, 20MM, to actually deliver an open source book through a vibrant leading edge commercial platform, offering faculty another quality choice. The potential to impact students now lies in the hands of willing professors and students advocating on behalf of today’s open etextbook opportunity, and the many more to follow.

“The opportunity to partner with Kno allowed us to leverage their groundbreaking education platform, application and national distribution capability to create a truly amazing etextbook based on open content,” said Dean Florez, a past Senate Majority Leader in California. He added, “Our overall target is aimed at massive faculty adoption throughout the nation by spring of 2012.”

Available Versions for: Web browser on Windows and Apple Mac based systems and the Apple iPad

Collaborative Statistics is also available free in pdf and Connexions versions. Students have the choice of using the enhanced digital version available at Kno.com or the pdf version available at Connexions site or the hard copy available for purchase. The hard copy will have a red cover and be available from QOOP: ISBN: 978-0-615-50867-2.

About 20 Million Minds Foundation

20MM Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to greatly reducing textbook costs. Headed by past California Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez, the foundation is currently leveraging leading edge technologies to create more affordable, engaging, and effective educational materials for college students throughout the nation. 20MM has currently funded, along with its working partners at both the Hewlett Foundation and Gates Foundation, a series of open source books due out by Spring of 2012 that are the next generation of open educational resources able to be remixed, reused and restructured based on an open Creative Common license model.

About KNO

Kno, Inc. is an education software company on a mission to make learning engaging, effective, and social for students. Osman Rashid, the co-founder of Chegg, and Babur Habib, a consumer electronics veteran, founded Kno, Inc. in May 2009. The company has received funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Intel Capital, Goldman Sachs, Advanced Publications, FLOODGATE, GSV Capital, First Round Capital, Ron Conway, Silicon Valley Bank, SV Angels and TriplePoint Capital and is based in Santa Clara, California. For more information, go to www.kno.com, or follow Kno at facebook.com/GoodtoKno.